Device for joining paper or like webs



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. A. RAKOWICZ ETAL DEVICE FOR JOINING PAPER 0R LIKE WEBS Filed March 9, 1964 July 27, 1965 J. A. RAKowlcz ETAL 3,197,152

DEVICE FOR JOINING PAPER OR LIKE WEBS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 9, 1964 3,197,152 v DEVICE FOR JGINING PAPER R LIKE WEBS Jan Antoni Rakowicz, London, and David John Jackson,

Chingford, England, assignors to Molins Machine Company Limited Filed Mar. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 350,465 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 14, 1963, 10,155/ 63 3 Claims. (Cl. 242-583) This invention relates to a device for joining paper or likewebs, such as are used in continuous-rod cigarette-making machines.

As is known, the production of such a machine is seriously impaired if the machine has to be stopped when a reel of such a web is exhausted and a new one is to be tted and the web led into the mechanism which handles it, and many devices have been proposed for joining a new web to a web which is nearly exhausted but still moving. The device about to be described is of this kind and is of verysimple and economic construction.

According to the invention there is provided a device for joining paper or like webs, such as are used in a continuous-rod cigarette-making machine, comprising a rotatable arm carrying supports for reels of web, a rotatable roller around which a web from one reel is led to provide a running web, a pivoted lever supporting said roller, a suction head to which the leading end of a web from another reel is attached by suction, after a piece of adhesive material has been attached to said end to extend beyond said end and positioned to lie in contact with theV surface o f the suction head, manually controlled means for swinging said lever on its pivot, and a knife on the lever arranged to cut the running web when the lever is moved, the lever movement serving also to cause the roller to press the resulting end of the running web intovcontact with the adhesive piece held on the suction head, to cause it to adhere thereto. The suction head may be pivoted, in which case the roller, when moved to engage the web causes suflicient friction between the webs and the head to swing the suction head on its pivot and drag the joined webs in the general direction of web movement, whereby the second said reel is rotated and web feeding continues without adverse effects due to the inertia of said second reel.

The knife is arranged to cut the running web a short distance in advance of the point where the web just contacts the roller and the parts are preferably so arranged that the trailing end of the cut web reaches the end of the web on the suction head at the instant adhesion takes place. In this way a satisfactory butt joint is obtained. It is undesirable that several thicknesses of material should overlap, because of the mechanism through which the web is taken for utilisation.

The invention will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows the general arrangement of the webjoining device and associated reel carrying devices,

FIGURE 2 is a view of the web-joining device in one position, drawn to a larger scale, and partly in section,

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, with some parts in different positions,

FIGURE 4 shows a modication.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, 1 is a reel of cork-tipping or like material and 2 is a similar reel which is nearly exhausted. The web 3, coming from the reel 2, is the running web while the web 4, coming from the reel 1, is stationary. The two reels are supported on an arm 5, pivoted at 6, which is manually rotated in the direction of the arrow A after web-joining has been effected. The

United States Patent 0 3,197,152 Patented July 27, 1965 ice running web 3 passes round a roller 7 and moves in the direction of the arrow into the mechanism which handles it.

The roller 7, which is rotated by the movement of the running web 3, is supported on a lever 8, pivoted at 9. At its upper end is a handle 10 by which the lever can be swung on its pivot, and a knife 11 is xed at the same part. The movement of the lever is restricted by a pin 12 and slot 13. An overcentre spring 24 holds the lever in position when the pin is at either end of the slot 13.

When the reel 1 has been mounted on the arm 5, the web 4 is pulled out by the operator who attaches a piece of adhesive tape, or the like, to its outer face, that is, the exterior face of the reeled web, with one end of the piece projecting beyond the leading end lof the web. This piece of adhesive tape is not shown in FIGURE l but it is shown in FIGURE 2 and marked 14. j

Referring also to FIGURES 2 and 3, the end of the web and the adhesive piece are then laid over a suction head 15 and are held thereto by suction through holes 16 at the lower part of the curved face of the suction head. The suction head 15 is pivoted at 17 and unbalanced so that it would rotate clockwise if free to do so but it is held in the up position, FIGURES 1 and 2, by a ball catch 20.

When, in the opinion of the operator, the reel 2 is virtually exhausted, he moves the handle 10 to cause the knife 11 to cut the running web, and then moves it back to the position shown in the figures.- Meanwhile the handle movement has brought the roller 7 almost into contact with the curved face of the suction head 15 and because the running web is wrapped round the roller 7, there is just sufcient friction between that web and the end of the web 4 to exert'a slight pull on the suction head so that, because of its unbalanced condition, it readily moves and trips the ball catch and then moves down about the pivot 17, and eventually reaches the position shown in FIGURE 3. Bycoordinating the position of the knife 11, its movement, and the running web speed, it is possible so to arrange things that the web is cut and the -tail piece extending from roller 7 to the knife has time to run down to the end of web 4 before the suction head starts to move, and a substantially perfect 'butt joint is made between the two webs. FIGURE 2 shows the position of the parts at the instant the suction head is about to move down.

The cutting edge 'of the knife may be inclined slightly to the cross-section `of the web, as viewed in plan, to obtain a shearing cut.

The curved face of the suction head is provided by a resilient piece, such as a piece of rubber 15A. This is held between curved cheeks extending from the end of the head 15 and almost of the same radius as the part 15A, so that the latter extends a few thousandths of an inch above the cheeks. In this way the head has a resilient surface, but one which cannot give much under the pressure of the roller 7, so that the webs and the adhesive piece 14 can pass between roller and head but are nevertheless positively gripped.

The suction head movements are restricted by a pin 18 and slot 19. The ball catch 20, supports the head in the up position but releases it as soon as the abovementioned frictional force is applied by the roller 7 and running web.

I-t will be seen that apart from the rolling action between the roller 7 and curved face of the head 15 which helps to make a satisfactory joint, the movement of the suction head relieves the joint of the effort necessary to start the reel 1 into rotary movement. As webs in these machines run at considerable speeds, the jerk necessary E, to :start the reel into rotary movement is considerable and could easily break the newly-made joint.

After the web has been joined, the remnant of the reel 2 isA removed from Ithe arm S-and the arm is'then rotated, as mentioned earlier, to bring the reel 1 to the position formerly occupied by theV reel 2. kA new .reel is then mounted on thearm 5. A'sprung guide roller 21 guidesthe web 4 while the reel 1 is in the position shown in FIGURE' 1. The suction head is swungback manually to the-upV position; and is held by theball catch.

A hole 2?., connects the` interior of the suction head to the pivot 17, which is formed as aV pipe and connected to asource of suction. In practice the pipe is connected to the suction systemof the machine, asthere are several suction devices on any cigarette-making machine, but for the purpose of illustration, a fan-23 is shown in FIGUREl to provide the suction. e

In the modified arrangement shown in FIGURE 4, the levei is actuated by aspring, so that the knife action is always the same, whereas if the lever is hand-operated, as previously mentioned, the cutting action may not always be` satisfactory, seeing that itk depends on the operator. spring 25 but isheld by a latch lever 2,6, which engages a catch 27; on the; lever 8. If thekright-hand end of,AY the latch lever is, depressed by the operator, the .catch vis released andthe lever 8 moves sharply to the left under For this purpose the lever 8 is urged by a f the pull of the spring 25 and the knife cuts the web, and f `the roller 7 is brought into contact with the websand the adhesive piece. When the lever 8 Vis pulled back, by manipulation of the handle 9, the catch automatically catches beneath the hooked endA of the latch lever andV a spring 2S: holds the partsy in the position shown on FIGURE 4.

What we claim as our inventionand desire to secure by Letters Patent is: K t

1'. A device for joining continuouswebs'of paper and thelike, such as are used in acontinuous-rod cigarettemaking machine, comprising a rotatable arm carrying supports for reels of web, a rotatable rollerV around which a web from one reel'is led to provide a running web, a

pivoted lever supporting said roller, a suction head to which the leading end of a web from another reel is attached by suction, adhesive material attached to and extending beyond said web end and positioned to lie in contact with the surface of the suction head, means for controlling the swinging of said lever on its pivot, and a knife on the lever arranged to cut the running web when theY lever is moved, the lever movement serving also to cause the rollerk to press the resulting end of the running web into contact with the adhesive material held on the suction head and to adhere thereto, and the head, through friction, to-pivotdrawing the` joined Webs in the general direction of web movement, whereby said second reel is rotated and web feeding continues without adverse effects due to the inertia of the second reel.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, in which the lever is held in the position, where the roller is away from the suction head, by a catch and spring-urged to move to the position where the roller and head engage the ywebs between them, and the means for controlling the swing of said lever comprises a latch lever engaging said catch Whichrnay be moved to release the lever, whenit is desired to cut the running web and attach the other web References Cited by the.Examner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,435,376 2/48 wilepxon 242-584 3,030,043 4/62 Pinkham 242-583 3,072,354 1/63 Giles et al. 242-584 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

kSTANLEY N. GILREATH, Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR JOINING CONTINUUOUS WEBS OF PAPER AND THE LIKE, SUCH AS ARE USED IN A CONTINUOUS-ROD CIGARETTEMAKING MACHINE, COMPRISING A ROTATABLE ARM CARRYING SUPPORTS FOR REELS OF WEB, A ROTATABLE ROLLER AROUND WHICH A WEB FROM ONE REEL IS LED TO PROVIDE A RUNNING WEB, A PIVOTED LEVER SUPPORTING SAID ROLLER, A SUCTION HEAD TO WHICH THE LEADING END OF A WEB FROM ANOTHER REEL IS ATTACHED BY SUCTION, ADHESIVE MATERIAL ATTACHED TO AND EXTENDING BEYOND SAID WEB END AND POSITIONED TO LIE IN CONTACT WITH THE SURFACE OF THE SUCTION HEAD, MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE SWINGING OF SAID LEVER ON ITS PIVOT, AND A KNIFE ON THE LEVER ARRANGED TO CUT THE RUNNING WEB WHEN 